While raising taxes is always a bad idea for any politician,
we at AL.com and The Huntsville Times believe it's a bad idea whose time has
come.

THE BACKGROUND

Last spring, state Department of Transportation Director
John Cooper announced that, because of a shortage of funding, the state was greatly
trimming its roads plan, which resulted in Huntsville losing $450 million in
road projects over the next 10 years. Even though these are state roads, Battle
argues that they have too much of an impact on the local quality of life to be
ignored.

We know taxes are never popular, and a wave of opposition is
to be expected. But here's why those voices should not drown out this effort.

-- You, the city of Huntsville, did not elect a council of
tax-and-spend liberals. Battle describes himself as a fiscal conservative and
says this decision is a difficult one.

Council members Bill Kling and Mark Russell, who are both up
for re-election next summer, should not be punished by losing your vote if they
decide to support the tax increase. In fact, they should be rewarded for the
doing the difficult and responsible deed of taking care of the area's
infrastructure.

-- Due to a poor national economy, the city has made near
drastic cuts in recent years, including cutting the budget of city departments
and outside agencies by 10 percent, implementing a limited hiring freeze and
delaying vehicle purchases. More cuts is not an option.

-- The last time Huntsville's sales tax was raised was a
half-cent increase in 1989 – more than 20 years ago. At the time, it helped to stabilize
the city's capital plan and school funding.

-- Even with raising the sales tax from 8 percent to 9
percent, we'd still be below Birmingham, Mobile and Montgomery, each at 10
percent, and we'd be on par with our neighbors, including Florence at 8.5
percent, and Madison, Athens, Arab and Decatur, each at 9 percent.

WHY IT MUST HAPPEN QUICKLY

The mayor will introduce the idea at tonight's council meeting, and it will be discussed next week in a work session, with a vote expected on Dec. 19.

That's a quick turnaround, but ours is not the only community that's desperate for road
funding. If we don't move quickly, another city could come in with the matching
funding and beat us to this unprecedented offer from the state.

Also, major road projects often take five or more years to
complete. If the seven proposed projects start on time, it would likely be 2020
before they're all open for driving. The longer we wait, the more congested our
roads become, and the longer our commutes will take.

QUALITY OF LIFE

What historically has set Huntsville apart from most other
communities in the state is our willingness to look forward and plan ahead. Quality
infrastructure is what put us in position for economic development like Cummings
Research Park, and could make a difference in whether we land Boeing or other
potential developments.

The 2000 census set our population at more than 150,000, and
by 2010, it had jumped to 180,000. That growth trend would land us around
225,000 by 2020, according to the mayor. And that doesn't count an additional
8,500 who could arrive with the likes of a Boeing.

Something has to be done if we are to keep the current
18-minute commute across town.

People who travel Highway 280 in Birmingham every day would
give a passenger door for an 18-minute commute.

This isn't a tax increase that would only benefit a segment
of the community. These seven road projects impact us all. We have a legacy of
doing things that are unprecedented. Let's do the right thing by giving the
mayor and City Council our support.

Written by Anthony
Cook for the AL.com and Huntsville Times editorial board. Reach him at
acook@al.com.